I feel like some people just thrive in a permanent state of pissedoffness. I’m not one of those people. I’m more like the crying girl on ‘Mean Girls’ that says, “I wish we could all get along like we used to in middle school... I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles, and everyone would eat and be happy.”

Anger is dangerous for my disease. My sobriety program teaches me how to not act on anger, but instead do something about it. Rather than letting anger control my behavior, in a perfect world I acknowledge the anger and respond to it with methodic purpose. What really happens? I take one extra beat before I react. That beat is just long enough to remember anger’s impermanence.

I have this thing I use called a God Box. Whenever I’m pissed off at someone, which has become less and less over the years, I write down their name on a sticky note and put it in the box. One week I put my boss’ name in the box five days in a row. On the fifth day, the anger was gone, and I didn’t have to lose my job over it. The God Box is just one technique to process anger. Listen for more!

Listen wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

Visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

#SobrietyJourney #MentalHealthRecovery #RecoveryCommunity #MindfulLiving #EmotionalWellness #GodBox #PositiveThinking #HealingJourney #PersonalGrowth #ProgressNotPerfection #OneDayAtATime #LettingGo #GratitudeAttitude #LivingSober #SelfGrowth #MentalHealthMatters

When anyone tells me they have trust issues, I always respond with, “I will trust anyone until they give me a reason not to.” But I realized today that is just not true. There is a correlation between trust and truth, trust and willingness, trust and accepting help, trust and honesty, trust and empathy, and trust and our deep-rooted fears.

I can trust someone with my life, yet still be unwilling to take their advice. I can trust and yet defend myself against unpleasant truths. The reason why my recovery program works is because the steps required me to build trust where I didn't know it was missing.

There's a whole new level of trust that I've been introduced to as a disabled stroke survivor. This experience has required me to question my long-standing belief that I know what's best for me and trust in my caregiver. Over the past year I have worked very hard at being defiant toward the truth that resulted from my stroke. This defiance makes it more difficult for my caregiver to protect me against myself.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

Visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

#TrustIssues #SelfReflection #RecoveryJourney #TruthAndTrust #DefyingTruth #StrokeSurvivor #TrustAndHealing #AcceptingHelp #EmpathyMatters #TrustYourJourney #BuildingTrust #LifeAfterStroke #CaregiverSupport #HealingThroughHonesty #PersonalGrowth

I wanted to work at NASA when I grew up. I also wanted to be an actress. I wanted to be rich and never have to worry about money. I left for college to be a math major because my math teacher in high school told me I’d never make it. One of my peers in class told me I should stick to punching numbers in a calculator because that’s what I do best.

The more criticisms I heard, the more I believed them. Why try when I believed I couldn’t. So, I set out on a fight, but it was against myself, and it lasted 30 years. Drinking turned up the volume of that negative self-talk, and I stuck with doing things that I was good at already. I stopped reaching up and started digging down.

I didn’t end up at NASA, and I’m not an actress, although I exceed in being dramatic. I’m not rich, but I still tell my kids what I’m going to do when I am. 😂 I don’t regret the past, nor wish to shut the door on it, because without everything happening just as it did, I wouldn’t be right where I am. After all, it could ‘a me been me stranded in space for five months.

My obsession with alcohol used to speak to me every day. Now, gratitude has taken its place.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

Visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

#DreamsToReality #SobrietyJourney #OvercomingSelfDoubt #GratitudePractice #FindingMyPath #LessonsFromThePast #BreakingNegativePatterns #SelfAcceptance #HealingAndGrowth #ReflectingOnTheJourney #EmbracingMyStory #RecoveryWarrior

Humor is the coming together of contradictions. My capacity for self-deception in my drinking days is something that today I can look back at and laugh. But it has taken years of healing to be able to see I was a walking paradox. The thing that I thought was helping me was deeply harming me.

In the same respect. I became really good at making excuses: “I’d love to BUT…”. I was a serious ‘BUT’ GAL. ‘But’ was a way I could isolate myself, sit in my own misery, and block anyone helping me. Yet, how easy was it for me to complain of loneliness?

And sobriety we tend to look back look at these contradictions and laugh at ourselves. I practice being a ‘yes’ person today to counteract my ‘but’ syndrome.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

Visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

#SobrietyJourney #SelfReflection #HealingThroughHumor #WalkingParadox #RecoveryHumor #OvercomingAddiction #NoMoreExcuses #YesMindset #ContradictionsInRecovery #LaughAtYourself #ButSyndrome #SelfDeception #GrowthMindset #FindingClarity #EmbracingSobriety

Over the past week, I’ve been reminded of the importance of recognizing how deeply I want something—how far I’m willing to go to take care of myself. Yesterday, I faced a pivotal moment, one that required me to get uncomfortable and advocate for my own stroke recovery.

Up until yesterday, I hadn’t felt assertive about prioritizing my well-being. I’m a people-pleaser, often ensuring everyone around me is happy before considering what’s best for me. But yesterday, I recognized the edge of my disability—how far I’m willing to let things go before I firmly say, “when.” I stood up for myself, choosing to protect my health and prevent triggers that could worsen my chronic pain, even if it risked someone else’s feelings.

Yesterday brought true, debilitating anxiety as I confronted the need to set that boundary with someone whose actions were infringing on my serenity and well-being. Emerging from the fog of confusion, I find myself reflecting on why these situations evoke such extreme anxiety. I realize though the courage it takes to act in the face of fear and uncertainty. I have a clearer understanding of how badly I want serenity and good health, and I now see the lengths I’m willing to go to care for myself. Today, I’m grateful for that awareness.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

Visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

#SelfCareJourney #BoundariesMatter #StrokeRecovery #MentalHealthAwareness #PeoplePleasing #ChronicPainWarrior #AnxietyRelief #CourageToHeal #PersonalGrowth #ProtectYourPeace #RecoveryJourney #HealingProcess #AssertiveLiving #ChooseYourself #MindfulHealing

'No' is a complete sentence. One of the first words we learn in life is 'No'. But doesn't it seem like we unlearn it as we learn how to empathize with other people. When I began to understand how 'No' might make somebody else feel I stopped using it so often. And as an adult it inhibits my ability to create healthy boundaries for myself.

I understand that I don't owe anyone an explanation and that it's up to me to enforce my boundaries. But, I think there is a part of me that doesn't believe I am worthy of my boundaries. I must recognize the difference between not wanting to do something because I'm isolating and not wanting to do something because it is not healthy for me.

You don't have to be in recovery to understand the need for enforcing healthy boundaries. But, living with chronic pain requires me to always be self-aware and aware of my surroundings. “Is this good for me or not?” “Am I putting my own recovery first or trying to please other people?” People pleasing is an obstacle to creating healthy boundaries for yourself. It takes courage to put yourself first.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

Visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

#PeoplePleasing #SetBoundaries #HealthyBoundaries #MentalHealthMatters #SelfWorth #RecoveryJourney #SayNo #EmpathyAndBoundaries #PutYourselfFirst #SelfAwareness

When I was little, I used to suck my thumb and clutch tightly onto a purple velvet pillow while I sunk into our mustard-colored couch. It was the 70’s! Eventually I would be told that it was time for me to stop sucking my thumb. I don't remember what I replaced that habit with to self-sooth. I am certain however, that I depended on the comfort of others to fix me on the inside.

Eventually I found alcohol to be an effective self-soothing technique that made my depression weightless, and for a single evening, I could fly. Years later that too needed to come to an end. Luckily, I have a program of recovery today that can never be taken away from me.

When I'm feeling upset and resentful, I clutch on to my program. Resentments have the power to kill. If I hold on to resentments, I will drink. If I drink, I will die. The steps of my program have become my new purple velvet pillow.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

Visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

#HealingJourney #RecoveryStory #SoberLiving #MentalHealthMatters #SelfSoothing #InnerHealing #OvercomingAddiction #LivingSober #AlcoholRecovery #LettingGoOfResentment #InnerPeace #ProgramOfRecovery #SelfReflection #SobrietyStories

Every so often I have a story time episode in my Recovery Daily Podcast. Today is a feel-good story you want to hear! On my way back home from walking Autumn yesterday, I was approached by woman in her 70s who’s English is her second language. She asked me where she can vote. I told her that it is conveniently at the elementary school right beside our houses. She said, “Come with me.” Without question I fell in line with her and walked her to the school. She shared with me her battle with cancer, and that she needed to be back to her house in one hour because a taxi was picking her up for chemotherapy. She would also need help completing her ballot.

This was the beginning of a 2-hour adventure where I would eventually find myself sitting with her in her bedroom as she put a necklace around my neck expressing her gratitude for my service and my friendship. I also have a new afternoon walking partner because her doctor wants her to walk.

This episode is about the unlikely meeting of two women from different worlds who become friends—so different, yet so much alike. If you want to feel good today, Listen!

Listen wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

Visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

#RecoveryDailyPodcast #FeelGoodStory #ActsOfKindness #UnexpectedFriendship #HelpingOthers #HumanConnection #CommunitySupport #GratitudeMoment #ListenAndFeelGood